One-piece label-holder

ABSTRACT

A ONE-PIECE LABEL-HOLDER OBTAINED BY MOULDING, WHICH INCLUDES A TRANSPARENT PANE FOR RECEIVING THE LABEL UNDER ITS INSIDE FACE AND WHICH IS FORMED WITH WINDOWS IN OPPOSITE MARGINAL AREAS AND WITH UPSTANDING BORDERS ON ITS INSIDE FACE THAT COMPRISE A PORTION EXTENDING ALONG THE OUTER EDGES OF SAID WINDOWS AND ANOTHER ANGLED PORTION AT THE TOP OF THE PANE, THE BORDRS COMPRISING BENEATH THE WINDOWS, STRIP-FORMING EXTENSIONS FOR RETAINING THE LABEL AT THE REAR.

Feb. 23, 1971 c GAUCHE 3,564,739

ONE-PIECE LABEL-HOLDER Filed Oct. 25, .1968

United States Patent ONE-PIECE LABEL-HOLDER Bernard Marc ClaudiusGauche, 9 Hameau des Artistes (11 Avenue Junot), Paris, France FiledOct. 25, 1968, Ser. No. 770,571 Claims priority, application France,Oct. 31, 1967, 126,501 Int. Cl. G09f 3/18 U.S. Cl. 40-16.4 8 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A one-piece label-holder obtained bymoulding, which includes a transparent pane for receiving the labelunder its inside face and which is formed with windows in oppositemarginal areas and with upstanding borders on its inside face thatcomprise a portion extending along the outer edges of said windows andanother angled portion at the top of the pane, the borders comprisingbeneath the windows, strip-forming extensions for retaining the label atthe rear.

Label-holders intended for retaining identification labels on files orsimilar objects consist as a rule of two parts: a desk-like portionwhich can be clamped, fastened, riveted with eyelets, or otherwisesecured to the file, and a desk cover portion positioned in the locationreceiving the label and usually consisting of a transparent elementwhich is secured elastically or threaded over guiding and retainingmembers.

Also known are label-holders consisting of two portions welded orriveted together and forming a U-section channel for receiving thelabel.

Likewise known are one-piece label-holders, customarily obtained by theextrusion technique but which can equally be moulded, notably byinjection, with a pistontype mould, and which also provide alabel-receiving channel of U-section.

Presently known designs are usually costly to produce, chiefly becauseof the complexity of the manufacturing and fitting phases, yet do notensure reliable securing of the identification labels.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome these disadvantagesand to accordingly provide a onepiece label-holder capable of holding atleast one label, regardless of the position in which the label-holder isplaced, it being impossible to extract the label from its lodgingotherwise than by a specific operation. Such a label-holder can readilybe obtained by moulding, using plain moulds without a piston, and it maycomprise either means for securing it to a file or a folder by elasticclamping or by gluing, or means for receiving definitive securingelements such as rivets or eyelets.

A label-holder according to this invention includes a transparentelement or pane, which may be substantially flat or of lens-formingconvex shape, the lower part of which embodies a portion for union witha member for securing the label-holder to a file, card, or the like. Thepane or transparent element is formed in opposite marginal areas thereofwith windows extending therealong and behind which are embodied bordersthat form a retaining channel, and, by virtue of angled portionsthereon, means for retaining the edges of the label by an elasticclamping effect.

Thus the label can be inserted elastically behind the pane, with orwithout a pinching effect, by being thrust in a direction parallel tosaid marginal borders, after which it can no longer escape from saidretaining angled portions otherwise than by a specific spreading andextraction operation.

Patented Feb. 23, 1971 In one specific form of embodiment, the means forretaining the label-holder to a folder or file is an elastic clip ofwhich one arm is formed as a stirrup having its uprights secured to thefoot portions of said marginal areas, and of which the other issubdivided into associated teeth and attached by the roots of theseteeth to the rear part of a surface forming a base for the pane.

A label-holder as hereinbefore described can readily be produced by themoulding technique, using a plain mould without a piston, since thelabel retaining ribs are located opposite the windows and the teeth ofthe clip members are formed internally of the arms and base of theopposite stirrup.

The description which follows with reference to the accompanyingnonlimitative exemplary drawing will give a clear understanding of howthe invention can be carried into practice. In the drawing,

FIG. 1 is a front view of a label-holder according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a section taken through the line IIII of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a section taken through the line IIIIII of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a section taken through the line IV-IV of FIG. 2.

In the embodiment shown in the accompanying drawing, the one-piecelabel-holder moulding includes a substantially rectangular pane 1 madeof transparent material, near the smaller sides of which are formed twowindows 2 and 3 bordering said two smaller sides and themselves shapedas very long rectangles.

The pane 1 is joined at an acute angle to a base 4, and the inside ofthe corner formed thus serves as a rest for the label placed fiatbeneath the pane 1.

Externally of windows 2 and 3 and beneath the pane are borders 5 ofwhich the portions facing the windows 2 form strips 6, and each suchstrip forms an edge 7 facing one side of the associated window. The sideof strip 6 which faces window 2 joins at an acute angle with the border5 and the upper portion of each strip provides an insertion ramp 8 whichforms a very obtuse angle with said edge 7.

These lateral catch-forming borders 5 each embody, at the top of theinside face of pane 1, an angled portion forming a claw 9 for retainingthe upper edge of the label which, upon being inserted, penetratesbeneath this claw and is retained thereby by an elastic clamping effect.

It is thus easily possible to shape, in a plain mould not employing apiston, the strips, the associated edges, the lateral catches and thetop claws.

It will easily be appreciated that a label of the desired size can beinserted beneath the pane 1 very rapidly but that it can be withdrawnonly by a special distorting operation, with withdrawal of the label bygripping with a fingernail between the opposite ends of claws 9, byexerting a pull by moving away the inside face of pane 1, and by awithdrawing action with a sliding motion roughly parallel to the planeof the pane. The label is normally retained between the base and theclaws and between the lateral catches 5. It may be squeezed between theedges 7 and the corresponding borders of windows 2.

Such a label-holder can be associated with any convenient means forretaining it on the edge of a file, a folder or a card. In the specificform of embodiment depicted, such means consists of a clip, but couldalternatively consist for instance of a plain border with holes thereinfor the passage of rivets, or of eyelets, or of any other convenientretaining device.

In the form of embodiment shown in the accompanying drawing, the edgesof the pane joining with the base, beneath the windows 2, are integralwith the ends of the arms of a stirrup 10 which is formed with a lowerflange 11 substantially parallel to base 4. Within the internal openingof stirrup 10 are provided multiple gripping members 12 each terminatingin a lip 13, facing which are indents 14 formed in flange 11. The rootsof the teeth 12 are rigid with the rear portion of base 4 and form anacute angle with the plane thereof, whereas the general plane of thestirrup forms an equally acute angle with said base and an obtuse anglewith the pane 1.

The embodiment hereinbefore disclosed can likewise be produced in aplain mould without a piston, as can also the pane and its associatedstructure.

A label-holder of the kind described can be fitted to the edge of a fileor a folder by a simple operation consisting in pressing the inside faceof the flange 11 against one of the faces of said border, thenelastically deforming the stirrup by a pressure in order to slip thelips 13 behind the other face of the file, and then sliding the clipspread apart thus transversely to said edge until it meets theundersurface of the base 4 while allowing the elastic effect to reclosethe clip once more after fitting has been effected, while the lips 13,which may be made to pass through associated openings in the edge of thefile, folder, card or the like, whereby to provide a firm securingeffect preventing accidental ripping off of the label-holder or anytransverse shifting thereof.

It goes Without saying that many changes and substitutions of parts maybe made to the form of the embodiment hereinbefore described withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention. Thus, where labels of smalllength are used, or even multiple labels, retention behind the pane ofthe associated label-holder could be better ensured by one or moremembers similar to the claws 9 or possibly to the strips 6, behindwindows of matching shape positioned uniformly and preferably betweentwo ends. Further, instead of being inserted perpendicularly to thelonger edge of the pane, the label could be inserted perpendicularly tothe shorter edge thereof, while the securing clip could alternativelyappear on a smaller side of the pane, with or without a base 4.

What I claim is:

1. A one-piece label-holder comprising a transparent pane portion forreceiving beneath the inside surface thereof at least one label, aplurality of windows in said pane portion at least in opposite marginalareas thereof, upstanding borders on the inside face of saidlabel-receiving pane portion at said marginal areas, which borders eachhave a first portion extending along an outer edge of one of saidwindows and a second portion forming an angle with said first portionand constituting a labelarresting catch, and strips respectivelyassociated with a first corresponding border portion and extendingbeneath a companion window.

2. A label-holder as claimed in claim 1 comprising a base portion, saidpane portion being joined at an acute angle to said base portion, saidbase portion serving as a common supporting base for the edge of a labeland for the edge of a file for receiving the label-holder.

3. A label-holder as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said strip-s isformed, at one end facing an opposite edge of said pane, with a slopingface opposite the inside face of said pane.

4. A label-holder as claimed in claim 3, wherein each of said strips isformed with a label-gripping acute-angled edge facing an internal edgeof the associated window.

5. A label-holder as claimed in claim 1 comprising catches providedintermediate the spaced ends of said second border portions.

6. A label-holder as claimed in claim 1 comprising a clip for securingthe label-holder including a stirrupshaped first arm having stirrup endsrigid with said pane portion, and a second arm positioned within saidstirrup with the ends of said first and second arms converging towardseach other.

7. A label-holder as claimed in claim 6, wherein said clip furthercomprising a second clip arm formed by at least one member terminatingin a lip facing an indent provided in the stirrup base.

8. A label-holder as claimed in claim 2 comprising a label-holdersecuring clip having a first stirrup-shaped arm attached by its ends toan edge of said base and a second clip arm rigid with the opposite edgeof said base.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,526,950 10/1950 Jones 40-l6.42,743,011 4/1956 Woofter 40-107UX 2,910,985 11/1959 Epstein 4016.4

ROBERT W. MICHELL, Primary Examiner W. J. CONTRERAS, Assistant Examiner

